Interview:
Phillip
Adams, journalist, author, intellectual and farmer
- 3rd April 2003
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Man continues to interview some of Australia's and
indeed the world's most interesting people. Phillip
Adams may be one of the most unique, misunderstood
and controversial people in the history of the Australian
media and arts sector.
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here for audio interview
Phillip
Adams was born in Maryborough, Victoria. He has had
a broad career in journalism, television, the Australian
film industry and as a raconteur; he maintains a high
profile in the area of Australian arts.
Phillip
Adams is a prolific and sometimes controversial broadcaster,
writer and film-maker. As presenter of Late Night
Live, he has interviewed thousands of the world's
most influential politicians, historians, archaeologists,
novelists, theologians, economists, philosophers and
sundry conversationalists. 'It's a privilege to present
Late Night Live,' he says. 'No radio program, anywhere
on earth, casts a wider net.' Phillip's laid-back
approach has become a trade-mark for Late Night Live,
as has his humour, curiosity, his ability to flesh
out rare insights from his guests, and his amazing
store of anecdotal knowledge.
Largely
self-educated (he left school in his mid-teens) he's
the author of over 20 books, including The Unspeakable
Adams, Adams Versus God, Talkback, Retreat From Tolerance
and A Billion Voices. His writing has appeared in
many of Australia's most influential publications
and he has been a contributor to The Times and The
Financial Times in London, and to the New York Times.
His
films include The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, The
Getting of Wisdom, Don's Party, Lonely Hearts and
We of the Never Never. Adams' Australia was part of
BBC TV's contribution to Australia's bicentennial
celebrations. Other TV programs include two series
of The Big Questions with Professor Paul Davies, and
Death and Destiny, filmed in Egypt with Paul Cox.
A
foundation member of the Australia Council and chairman
of the Film, Radio and Television Board, Phillip has
chaired the Australian Film Institute, the Australian
Film Commission, Film Australia and the National Australia
Day Council. He is a former president of the Victorian
Council for the Arts and was foundation chairman of
the Commission for the Future. He currently chairs
the Advisory Board of the Centre for the Mind at Sydney
University and the Australian National University.
His many board memberships include the Festivals of
Ideas in Adelaide and Brisbane and the Families in
Distress Foundation.
Other
board memberships have included the Museum of Australia,
Greenpeace Australia, CARE Australia, the Australian
Children's Television Foundation, Film Victoria and
the Anti-Football League. He was co-founder of the
Australian Skeptics.
As
well as two Orders of Australia, Phillip was Australian
Humanist of the Year (1987), Republican of the Year
2005, and received the Longford Award, the film industry's
highest accolade, in 1981, the same year that he was
appointed Senior Anzac Fellow. He is a recipient of
the Henry Lawson Arts Award (1987) and in 1998, the
National Trust elected him one of Australia's 100
Living National Treasures. He has four honorary doctorates:
from Sydney, Griffith, Edith Cowan and the University
of South Australia.
He
has written a number of books. His latest is Bedtime
Stories; Tales From My 21 Years at RNs Late
Night Live, published by Harper Collins.
Phillip
lives on a cattle property specialising in the production
of chemical-free beef. He is a collector of rare antiquities,
including Egyptian, Roman and Greek sculptures and
artefacts (Credit:
ABC)
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